Trout Lily Cake, Stonescapes, and Pollywogs

Abby made a chocolate cake and added trout lily blossoms to decorate it.

I knew Nolan had been working on cleaning out our little drainage streams on our property, but it brought a smile to my face when I noticed that he had even added a rock border on one.

Later I noticed Nolan working with some of the younger children.  This pipe is from our well overflow (there is no electricity involved, but for some reason there is this excess of water that has to flow out somewhere).  The pipe was by the edge of the pond making a muddy mess and now it is rather peaceful to look at.  We are so blessed to have this water source for watering the gardens and the animals.  It is also fine for drinking and flows year round, so we are never without a source of water.

Abraham has been spending time catching pollywogs and tadpoles.

So thankful for spring.

Warm wishes,

Tonya



Simply Together

Each child receives a small basket awaiting them at their seat Easter morning.  Truly, it is just a token gift - usually one or two pieces of candy, a nice new pen and some pencils, a hand knit toy for the younger children, and a bag of Smartfood popcorn for our oldest, Thomas, because he doesn't like candy.

Another tradition we have is hiding the plastic Easter eggs (yes plastic, but they are used year after year), filled with some coins.  Each child has their own color and they are hidden in appropriate level of difficulty. This is the dear husband's job.  Sometimes he makes the hiding spots so challenging it can take quite a long time for them all to be found.

We had our Quaker Meeting for worship at 10:00 am.  It was nice to have three other sets of people come.

And then we enjoyed the beautiful day outside.

Sarah and Isaac practicing their casting in our pond.

Brought the chairs out.

The sap buckets were taken down and rinsed out, left to dry.

 

 

 

Giving the bikes a tune up.

This beautiful sunny morning, some of the children and I are off to see some Alpine doe kids...

we are all so excited.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

 

Fixing Fences and Cleaning Up

Although the thermometer reads just 39 degrees today, that didn't stop us from continuing the work that needs to be done outside.  As the snow has melted in the sunny areas, revealed underneath are the bits of trash, mittens left behind during the first cold days of December, and endless rocks and sticks.

With the soil mostly thawed, we are also able to repair fences.

The children throwing rocks from the yard on to the pond, tyring to get the rocks to break through the ice.

I came across a great blog post about living an agrarian based lifestyle.  Shannon has lots of wonderful recipes and insights at her blog Nourishing Days.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Visitors to our Pond

It was so nice to see this pair return again.  (I am not really sure if it is the same pair but they have been given the names of Carlotta and George again.)

Sarah went outside yesterday morning, still in her pajamas to get as close as she could to them.

It sure would be sweet if they bring their babies here later this spring.  We are certainly blessed to have this little pond just about 50 feet from our front steps.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

Spring! Robins, Chickens and Gardens

This morning I heard Isaac yell, "I see one!", as he was looking out the window. 

"What?" I ask, a bit worried.

"A robin!"

The chickens are loving their freedom.

The snow has melted in one of our garden areas.  The chickens and children have been enjoying hours of digging in the soil.

I worked on organizing some fencing and planning where I would plant the snap peas under the beautiful blue sky with the warmth of the sun on our faces.  Pure joy!

Wishing you spring joys wherever you are,
Tonya

Spring?

This is what it still looks like outside our front door.

The sap is running very slowly.  The temperature today is just 33 degrees F.

With all the snow still on the ground, it is hard to come up with many outside chores.  But today we are working on some firewood.  It is nice because you can walk right on top of the snow.  With sleds, we are all pulling the wood over to the pile.  The older boys are doing a bit of splitting - a perfect temperature for this.

Isaac decided he would like to start a fire to burn the brush.

The children don't seem to mind.

To add a bit of green inside, I glued some moss that we collected last fall to a vine wreath.

Yesterday my friend reminded me that in less than one month's time, we will be planting our onions and other cold crops.  That sounded good - real good.

Warm wishes,
Tonya

Spring Lambs

Not our own, but it was a lot of fun to be able to care for our neighbor's farm over the weekend while he was away.  One of the ewes had two day old lambs. 

Sarah is gifted with animals.  She can walk right in with the mom and babies, talk to the mom and hold the lambs without the mom getting upset.

She had two girls.  Can you see the other one in the background nursing?

It was nice to enjoy this springtime ritual of birth as we had even more snow fall last night and are practicing patience as we wait for the white to slowly turn to green.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

The Little Things

~ robins built a nest in our barn on top of a bicycle tire hanging on the wall...

such beautiful little eggs~

Here is a sweet poem to share on this beautiful Sunday.

The Little Things

by Anne Campbell

It would be a weary world,

God knows,

Without the little things!

The little stem that holds the rose,

The little bird that sings,

The little love that grows and grows,

The little thought that wings!

It would be a dreary world,

God knows,

Without the little things!

The little joys, the little woes

That all our loving brings,

The little prayer at evening's close,

The little hand that clings!

Warm wishes, Tonya